Technical info

Screens for noise reduction

Screens with advanced acoustic properties, designed to control noise

Office screens can block sound and create what is called an acoustic shadow. The closer the screen is to the source of noise and the higher/wider the screen the greater the shadow and the more protection that is offered to people on the far side.

However the majority of the sound just bounces off the screen and becomes a problem elsewhere in the office. Acoustic screens provide an answer for today's collaborative, open plan workspaces without the need to erect high dividing walls to contain sound.

Sound Attenuation

Screens at Work are engineered to not only block sound, but also absorb it, thus reducing the problem of reverberant noise levels within the work place. This is achieved by the integral Lamaphon Acoustic Core installed into our range of screens that cover every eventuality from simple desk mounted screens to sophisticated cellular offices.

The 1.4 Screen

The 1.4 Screen is a simple desk mounted screen that has been designed to carry a double sided sound absorbing composite.

The Lamaphon Core is constructed in such a way that the outer component is highly absorptive - with 25mm on both sides absorbing 75% of all the sound that hits it, whilst the 2.5mm rubber inner layer acts as a lightweight transmission barrier that traditionally was created using MDF of a much greater thickness making it impractical for desk mounted situations.

The fabric covering the Lamaphon Core must be an open weave structure allowing sound waves to pass through to be firstly absorbed, and then blocked by the internal barrier. Camira fabrics such as Cara, Screen and Lucia are all open weave structure fabrics.

The 3.3 Screen

When more screen options are needed than purely desk mounted then Screen 3.3 really comes into its own. A robust frame carries with ease the double sided composite within an MDF frame that tapers the 52mm section down to the 33mm frame.

The 5.2 System

Where privacy is an issue, a cellular office may be the answer. The 5.2 system allows you to go up to 2.4m and can carry the thicker 40mm Lamaphon Core with both sides absorbing up to 90% of all the sound that hits it.

The 5.2 cellular office gives you all the privacy of a fully partitioned office without having to rework the existing air conditioning and lighting. Another major benefit is the flexibility to reconfigure/relocate when the need arises without structural alterations or mess and disruption.

Offices are a combination of hard and soft surfaces - the more soft absorbent surfaces you can introduce the better. Walls are an ideal opportunity to turn a hard surface into a soft absorbent surface using wall mounted acoustic panels, available in both 25mm and 40mm.

These acoustic panels need not be just swathes of attractive fabric coverings. Using Lucia, images can be printed onto an open weave fabric creating not only a piece of wall art but an effective acoustic panel.

Metal or Timber storage are hard surfaces that will reflect sound around the office, cladding them with acoustic panels will reduce this reverberation considerably, it can also introduce colour into what could normally be a drab environment.

Where to start

If you have a sound problem within an existing office we can help by calculating the amount of absorption you will need to bring the sound down to an acceptable level. We do this by calculating the amount of hard and soft surfaces.

All surfaces have a value from which we can calculate the level of acoustic absorption needed. It is up to you or your designer using the screens outlined here to devise a scheme that works for you.

We would suggest that you do one particular area well, reduce the sound to an acceptable level, live with it for a reasonable amount of time then, when you are perfectly happy, roll out the new system to the rest of the office.

It's worth remembering that clear evidence exists that employees can be more productive if they are not disturbed by unwanted noise and distractions.